With pokéfans still unsure what to make of the newly announced Black and White sequels, what will they think of this new super cute Wii spin-off?

PokéPark 2: Wonders Beyond (Wii) – make friends or else

Pokémon is a franchise constantly underestimated by its critics. The fad may have blown over decades ago but the core portable games remain some of the most complex, open-ended and social role-playing games ever made. However, the reputation of the many spin-offs has not endured as healthily. In fact they’ve been in a nose dive of quality and relevance for years, and this only heads further down towards the bottom of the barrel.The most depressing thing about PokéPark 2 is that it implies the original game sold in sufficient numbers that a sequel was deemed economically viable. Obviously it was a game aimed at kids, but so too are the real Pokémon games and all the older, better spin-offs such as Pokémon Snap and Pinball. PokéPark though panders to the very youngest members of the audience, those too young to realise that actually, video games are supposed to be fun.Very little of substance has changed between this game and the first, although now instead of just controlling Pikachu you also get to ‘be’ the three starter pokémon from Black/White: Snivy, Tepig and Oshawott. The quartet are trapped in a new PokéPark, a sort of wildlife preserve for pocket monsters, and quickly discover that there’s a plot afoot to kidnap Pokémon using hypnotic cakes (really).This isn’t exactly a complex plot driven drama though and most of your time is simply spent wandering around trying to make friends with other pokémon. This involves some of the more accepted forms of social bonding, including a range of simple mini-games that cover such gaming basics as platforming and shooting (albeit only at cake ingredients).Sometimes a pokémon might coyly tempt you into a game of ‘It’ to prove your friendship or they might ask you to carry out a simple fetch quest with a nearby object, but most of the time they’ll want a battle. There’s always been disquiet at the dubious morals behind the Pokémon games (they don’t mind be caught and domesticated, honest!) but here the game works along the principle that starting a fight with random strangers will cause them to be your friend.As part of our research for the game we tried this in real life and found that absolutely nobody wanted to be our friends after we threw razor sharp leaves at them or dowsed them with a flamethrower. In PokéPark 2 though it happens all the time.Of course the real problem is they’re not proper tactical battles, as in the portable games, just ultra basic real-time fights that get old on your second button-mashing go. But that’s really as exciting as the game gets and although making friends with one of each of the hundred or so critters is relatively compelling at first you soon become heartily sick of not just the battles but the chase sequences and mini-games as well.It doesn’t help that the whole game feels so aimless and slow. The visuals are pretty good, and it’s unusual to see pokémon portrayed in their natural habit in this way. But developer Creatures seem to be so impressed with their own creation that they’ve neglected to add any kind of pacing or structure to your exploration.There’s some impetuous to unlock new areas, but once you do it’s just one more location to watch pokémon wander around randomly looking for a fight. It’s like an English market town on a Saturday night, except with less kebabs and swearing.And then there’s our very least favourite feature from the first game: the fact that PokéPark forces you to hold the Wii remote horizontally and run around the 3D world using only the D-pad. It’s essentially the same control system from Metroid: Other M but even more offensively horrendous because the world is much more open.Nintendo are the ones that popularised the use of the analogue stick, but for some reason they insist on teaching small children bad habits – not just with the controls but with the every element of the game’s lazy, half-hearted design. Considering how child friendly most of Nintendo’s games are, making anyone play this is like forcing them to read the phone book as they sit in a library full of literary classics.Yes, the graphics are cute and attractive, but the horrible controls and endless repetition are a world away from the real Pokémon titles and any kind of objectively worthwhile entertainment.In Short:One of the worst introductions to Pokémon – and gaming in general – a small child could suffer. The video games equivalent of corporal punishment.Pros:The graphics are pretty good and the way pokémon wander about in the wild does give a glimpse of what a console based version of the portable titles could look like.Cons:Impossibly shallow and repetitive, with needlessly awful controls and mindless, skill-less battles. Far too similar to the first game.Score:3/10Formats: WiiPrice: £39.99Publisher: NintendoDeveloper: Creatures Inc.Release Date: 23rd March 2012Age Rating: 7Video:Check out the PokéPark 2: Wonders Beyond trailer